Grew up in St. John's, Newfoundland as part of the Bowring family. The
Bowrings were merchants with connections to Liverpool and the West Indies.
Bowring became a director of the West Indies operation. He was educated in
England, at Sherborne and Marlborough. He was a member of
the first West Indies touring party to visit England in 1900. He also played
cricket in the Liverpool area, representing the Liverpool Club, and the
Gentlemen of Liverpool in 1911. His brother-in-law DCCC DaCosta also played
first-class cricket for Barbados, and his step-cousin JS Munn played
first-class cricket for Oxford (Dave Liverman, 2003).